hey, i just got a new video card, the fan stopped on my last one and fried the processor. anyway, while i had it open, i took the heatsink off the cpu to clean that fan cause it was pretty dusty too. i put the cpu back in and the heatsink back on but now the computer wont cut on. the heatsink fans for the old video card and the cpu cut on but the hard drives wont spin. its like the cpu has locked or something. with only the power cables connected to the hard drives they will spin, but when the cables to the mother board are connected, they wont. can you please help me? thanks

When you removed and replaced the HS/fan, did you clean the goop off the processor and HS and apply thermal compound?

If it fried the processor wonder if it shorted out the power supply also?

"i put the cpu back in and the heatsink back on " Try reseating the cpu - unlatch it, make sure it is all the way down, latch it again. If it doesn't go all the way down, you have at least one bent pin on the cpu - remove and remedy. Also see OtheHill's post

thanks guys for responding. i did clean the processor off but i did not apply any thermal compound. you think that could be the problem and if so where can i pick up some? i just didnt think the compound was totally necessary. there is still a little on the heatsink so i assumed that would do. if not how much is needed, and would this solve my problem? i dont think the power supply is fried, cause the video card fan and the heat sink fan still work as well as the fan in the power supply. also when just the power cables are connected to the hard drive they spin, only when the cables to the mother board are connected to they not spend. thanks for your response though. i took the cpu back off and i do not see any bent pins. thanks for the help though.

did you protect the processor against electrostatic discharge as you cleaned it? if not you may have inadvertently destroyed the cpu.